The present invention relates generally to the field of communication systems and more specifically to a method and circuit for processing data packets and valid data bytes.
The coming of the modern information age has brought about phenomenal growth in demand for telecommunications-based products and services, driven primarily by the Internet. As the burgeoning expansion of the Internet continues along an unprecedented and unpredictable path, many new applications are foreseen and expected. These applications are placing increasing demands for ultra-high speed circuit solutions. In parallel, driven by the explosive growth in bandwidth requirements of multimedia applications, various ultra-high bit rate transmission techniques have been developed. Fiberoptic communications system speeds have increased from asynchronous-transfer-mode (ATM) rates of 155 Mb/s and synchronous optical network (SONET) rates of 622 Mb/s to the optical carrier (OC) standard of OC-192 at 10 Gb/s and OC-768 at 40 Gb/s. Over time a body of interface standards have developed to facilitate the interconnection of the various communication networks. In certain instances, however, the varying standards have presented unique challenges for system and integrated circuit designers. An example can be found in the data packet processing standards developed for SONETs.
SONET is a transport mechanism for multiplexing data from multiple networks onto fiber optic cabling. For example, IP (Internet protocol), ATM, and T1 are among the various types of networks that are interconnected via SONET rings. Since SONET interconnects different network types, it employs routers for converting protocols from one network type to another. In the case of IP protocols, for example, routers are used for converting IP packets for transmission on the SONET ring.
A typical router contains a line card for receiving data packets on one end, performing necessary conversions and sending out the packets at the other end. Among other components, line cards include a framer for framing/de-framing data packets, and a processor for performing protocol conversion and for controlling packet traffic. The framer communicates with the processor through an interface known as the SPI-4 (system packet interface). The SPI-4 interface is a standard defined by a consortium of communication companies. This standard defines packet and cell transfer standards between a physical layer device (i.e., the framer) and a link layer device (i.e., the processor). The SPI-4 interface requires 16-bit data processing. That is, data is processed in 16 bit words, containing two bytes of data. Each packet contains an even number of bytes, each of which must be valid. However, many functional blocks employed in telecommunication systems including, for example, most network processors process data on byte (8 bit) boundaries as opposed to word (16 bit) boundaries. In such systems, a packet need only contain byte multiples for proper processing. For instance, it may contain odd multiples such as three bytes, seven bytes etc. Or, it may contain even multiples such as two bytes, eight bytes, etc. So long as the packet contains multiple bytes, it is properly processed. Upon arriving at the SPI-4 interface, however, data bytes contained in a packet must be processed as 16 bit words. The data bytes are first grouped into 16 bit words (two bytes) for processing. This presents no problems so long the packet contains an even number of bytes. If, however, the number of bytes is odd, a single byte will remain after grouping. For example, for a three byte packet, the first two bytes are grouped into a 16 bit word. The last byte can only be grouped with an empty byte. This empty byte is of course invalid and should be processed as such.
Identifying such invalid bytes and processing them in a manner that does not compromise the integrity of the data and speed of transmission is a challenging task. There are other similar incompatibilities between the varying interface standards and established infrastructure that give rise to such challenges.
There is, therefore, a need for methods and systems that can resolve such incompatibilities and the problems that may arise from erroneous processing of data packets in communication networks such as SONETs.